MCS update in group control channel

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. A wireless device may receive an indicator of retransmission scheduling for a plurality of UEs, determine, based on a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) update in the indicator, resources for receiving a retransmission, and receive the retransmission on the determined resources. A base station may receive a negative acknowledgement report from at least one UE of a plurality of UEs, determine a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) update for the at least one UE, generate an indicator of retransmission scheduling for the plurality of UEs, the indicator including the MCS update for the at least one UE, and transmit the indicator.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/673,089, entitled “MCS UPDATE IN GROUP CONTROL CHANNEL,” filed May 17, 2018, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The following relates generally to wireless communication.

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number of base stations or network access nodes, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).

SUMMARY

The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices, or apparatuses that support modulation and coding scheme (MCS) updates for group downlink control messages. A method of wireless communication is described. The method may include receiving an indicator of retransmission scheduling for a plurality of UEs, determining, based on a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) update in the indicator, resources for receiving a retransmission, and receiving the retransmission on the determined resources.

An apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatus may include a processor, a memory in electronic communication with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to receive an indicator of retransmission scheduling for a plurality of UEs, determine, based on a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) update in the indicator, resources for receiving a retransmission, and receive the retransmission on the determined resources.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing code for wireless communication is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to receive an indicator of retransmission scheduling for a plurality of UEs, determine, based on a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) update in the indicator, resources for receiving a retransmission, and receive the retransmission on the determined resources.

Another apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatus may include means for receiving an indicator of retransmission scheduling for a plurality of UEs, means for determining, based on a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) update in the indicator, resources for receiving a retransmission, and means for receiving the retransmission on the determined resources.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, or non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the indicator includes a bitmap indicating which of the plurality of UEs reported a negative acknowledgement or a positive acknowledgement for a prior transmission. In some instances, the MCS update includes, for at least one UE that reported a negative acknowledgement for a prior transmission, a MCS delta with respect to a MCS of a prior transmission. Some examples of the method, apparatuses, or non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include processes, features, means, or instructions for determining the resources for receiving the retransmission based on the MCS delta and a position of the UE in a sequential ordering of the plurality of UEs. Some examples of the method, apparatuses, or non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include processes, features, means, or instructions for determining the resources for receiving the retransmission based on the MCS delta and a UE index included in the indicator. In some instances, the determining the resources comprises identifying resource blocks for receiving the retransmission based on a position of the UE in a sequential ordering of the plurality of UEs. In some instances, the identifying the resource blocks further comprises identifying at least a particular resource block in which the UE received a prior transmission. In some instances, the indicator of retransmission scheduling is received on a group control channel.

A method of wireless communication is described. The method may include receiving a negative acknowledgement report from at least one UE of a plurality of user equipments (UEs), determining a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) update for the at least one UE, generating an indicator of retransmission scheduling for the plurality of UEs, the indicator including the MCS update for the at least one UE, and transmitting the indicator.

An apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatus may include a processor, a memory in electronic communication with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to receive a negative acknowledgement report from at least one UE of a plurality of user equipments (UEs), determine a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) update for the at least one UE, generate an indicator of retransmission scheduling for the plurality of UEs, the indicator including the MCS update for the at least one UE, and transmit the indicator.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing code for wireless communication is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to receive a negative acknowledgement report from at least one UE of a plurality of user equipments (UEs), determine a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) update for the at least one UE, generate an indicator of retransmission scheduling for the plurality of UEs, the indicator including the MCS update for the at least one UE, and transmit the indicator.

An apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatus may include means for receiving a negative acknowledgement report from at least one UE of a plurality of user equipments (UEs), means for determining a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) update for the at least one UE, means for generating an indicator of retransmission scheduling for the plurality of UEs, the indicator including the MCS update for the at least one UE, and means for transmitting the indicator.

In some instances, the determining the MCS update for the at least one UE is based on channel state feedback received from the at least one UE. In some instances, the indicator is transmitted on a group control channel for the plurality of UEs. In some instances, the indicator includes a bitmap indicating which of the plurality of UEs reported a negative acknowledgement or a positive acknowledgement of a prior transmission. In some instances, the prior transmission is scheduled based on semi-persistent scheduling. In some instances, the MCS update includes a MCS delta with respect to a MCS of a prior transmission to the at least one UE. In some instances, the MCS update further includes a UE index of the at least one UE. Some examples of the method, apparatuses, or non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include processes, features, means, or instructions for assigning resources for a retransmission to the at least one UE based at least in part on a position of the at least one UE in a sequential ordering of the plurality of UEs. Some examples of the method, apparatuses, or non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include processes, features, means, or instructions for assigning, for the retransmission, at least a particular resource block on which a prior transmission was transmitted to the at least one UE.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system for wireless communication that supports MCS updates for group control messages in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example system in which factory units communicate in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a frame structure that supports MCS updates for group control messages in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 4-5 illustrate examples of retransmission resource assignment that supports MCS updates for group control messages in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 6-7 illustrate methods for MCS updates for group control messages in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a design of a base station/eNB/TRP and a UE configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In various aspects of the disclosure, wireless communications may use group control messages (e.g., group Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)) for assigning resources to a plurality of user equipments (UEs). For example, instead of sending separate resource assignments to each of the plurality of UEs, a base station may send a group resource assignment from which each of the plurality of UEs may uniquely derive its resource assignment. The transmission of a group resource assignment may reduce overhead associated with control channel transmissions, including cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits and higher aggregation levels associated with each control channel transmission. Transmission of a group resource assignment, however, may be associated with some inefficiencies, especially if there are a large number of UEs monitoring the group resource assignment. For example, different UEs monitoring a group resource assignment may operate under different channel conditions. Accordingly, different UEs may require different updates to their modulation and coding scheme (MCS) with respect to a prior transmission. Various techniques disclosed herein provide for MCS updates in group control messages.

Wireless communication networks may, in some instances, employ Coordinated MultiPoint (CoMP) transmission/reception to improve resource utilization or manage interference within a communication network. The coordinated aspect of CoMP may be contrasted with uncoordinated single-cell transmissions where a base station may communicate with user equipments (UEs) within its serving area with little or no coordination with neighboring cells. CoMP deployments may include various schemes for coordinating transmission and reception in a network, such as, for example, coordinated scheduling, beamforming, or joint transmissions. In some instances, CoMP deployments are suitable for (and may improve operational efficiency and interference management in) dense environments involving large numbers of UEs and/or transmission/reception points (TRPs), which may include spatially separated macro base stations, picocells, remote radio heads, small cells, access points, and the like, as used herein. The high degree of coordination among the TRPs in a CoMP deployment for coordinated scheduling, transmission, and exchange of control information may be facilitated by a high bandwidth backhaul connecting the TRPs (e.g., using X2 interface).

One example of a dense network environment that may benefit from CoMP deployments is a factory automation scenario. Although some of the examples discussed in the present disclosure are in the context of factory automation, other scenarios in which CoMP and multi-scale channel condition reporting are used are also within the scope of the present disclosure. In a factory automation setting, multiple sensor/actuator (S/A) units may be controlled by programmable logic controller (PLC) units. Examples of S/A units may include rotary motors, linear servos, actuators, position sensors, etc. The PLC units may receive sensor inputs (e.g., position) from the S/A units and transmit commands to the S/A units in real-time. Further, the PLC units may need to coordinate with other PLC units to manage the S/A units, and may therefore be interconnected (e.g., via a backhaul using X2 interface). In some instances, human machine interfaces (HMIs) may connect the PLC units with a management system, such as an industrial computer. The S/A units may communicate wirelessly with the PLC units, while the PLC units may be interconnected via a backhaul link to coordinate scheduling of transmissions to and from the S/A units. In certain instances, the factory automation setting may utilize CoMP schemes to manage the communications among PLC units and S/A units. Accordingly, in a factory automation context, the PLC units may be considered TRPs and the S/A units may be considered UEs.

The implementation of CoMP in factory automation settings may improve reliability of communications in a highly dynamic environment. For example, in an indoor environment with potential for numerous reflections due to the physical location of machines and objects, coupled with fast-moving machine parts, fading and shadowing effects may degrade network performance where a S/A unit may lose connection with a serving TRP, while not having enough time to re-associate with a TRP before the environment changes again. The spatial diversity of the TRPs serving UEs in a factory environment may help improve reliability by providing multiple access points for UEs to select from based on the diverse and changing environment, and coordinated transmissions through multiple TRPs may facilitate communications among the dense collection of UEs and TRPs in a factory environment while minimizing interference.

The traffic profile of communications in a factory automation setting may be mostly periodic, mission-critical communications comprising cyclic exchanges among PLC units and S/A units. The factory environment may include hundreds or thousands of production cells, where cell size may be relatively small compared to cells typically found in wide area networks. Accordingly, some factory environments may have stringent latency or reliability requirements to meet the needs of automated factory operations. In some instances, ultra-reliable/low-latency communications (URLLC) are used to meet the above requirements. Such communications may be associated with stringent latency and reliability requirements and may be utilized in a variety of scenarios, including emergency management communications, vehicle-based communications, factory automation communications, and the like.

Some URLLC communications may be suitable for semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) protocols. For example, in factory automation deployments, URLLC communications may be periodic in nature, may involve a rather consistent or small amount of data to be communicated, which may be suitable for SPS protocols. SPS protocols typically include preconfigured resources that are used for the URLLC communications. One issue that may arise in the above scenario is when SPS messages are not received and/or decoded by the receiving device (e.g., a UE). In this instance, the UE may transmit a negative acknowledge (NACK) message (e.g., as part of a hybrid acknowledgment repeat request (HARQ) procedure) to the base station indicating that the SPS message was not received and/or decoded. In response, the base station may allocate new resources to retransmit the SPS message, e.g., resources outside of the preconfigured SPS resources, and transmit an indication of the resources in a new grant to the UE in a dynamic scheduling transmission, in contrast to a semi-persistent scheduling transmission.

According to some conventional protocols, retransmission resource grants may be provided on a per-UE basis. When there are many UEs, the control channel may be overwhelmed or, in some instances, may not have sufficient resources available to transmit all of the grant messages. This situation may be even further exacerbated in the situation where some or all of the UEs transmitting NACK messages have high aggregation levels. In some instances, a group resource allocation (e.g., a group Physical Downlink Control Channel transmission) may be transmitted to a plurality of UEs, with each UE decoding the group resource allocation and determining particular resources for receiving retransmissions. One issue with group resource allocation, however, is if the UEs receiving the group resource allocation are operating under substantially different channel conditions. Further, dynamic channel conditions may result in UEs having different coverage needs for the retransmission when compared to the initial SPS transmission, in addition to different coverage needs among the different UEs receiving the group resource allocation. Accordingly, various aspects of the present disclosure provide for updating modulation and coding scheme (MCS) configurations in a group control message. The transmission of MCS updates in a group control message may improve operational efficiency for dynamic resource scheduling, such as for retransmission resource allocation. Further, the terms group control message, group control signaling, and group PDCCH may be used interchangeably herein unless otherwise noted, and may each refer to a group downlink control message transmitted by a base station to schedule resources for downlink or uplink transmissions.

Aspects of the disclosure are initially described in the context of a wireless communications system. Aspects of the disclosure are further illustrated by and described with reference to apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flowcharts that relate to MCS updates for group control messages, signals, or channel (e.g., Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)). The detailed description set forth below, in connection with the appended drawings and appendix, is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Rather, the detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these specific details are not required in every case and that, in some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form for clarity of presentation.

This disclosure relates generally to MCS updates for group control messages. In various embodiments, the techniques and apparatus may be used for wireless communication networks such as code division multiple access (CDMA) networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, as well as other communications networks. As described herein, the terms “networks” and “systems” may be used interchangeably.

An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, flash-OFDM and the like. UTRA, E-UTRA, and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) are part of universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS). In particular, long term evolution (LTE) is a release of UMTS that uses E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS and LTE are described in documents provided from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP), and cdma2000 is described in documents from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). These various radio technologies and standards are known or are being developed. For example, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration between groups of telecommunications associations that aims to define a globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone specification. 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP project which was aimed at improving the universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) mobile phone standard. The 3GPP may define specifications for the next generation of mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices. The present disclosure is concerned with the evolution of wireless technologies from LTE, 4G, 5G, and beyond with shared access to wireless spectrum between networks using a collection of new and different radio access technologies or radio air interfaces.

In particular, 5G networks contemplate diverse deployments, diverse spectrum, and diverse services and devices that may be implemented using an OFDM-based unified, air interface. In order to achieve these goals, further enhancements to LTE and LTE-A are considered in addition to development of a new radio (NR) technology. The 5G NR will be capable of scaling to provide coverage (1) to a massive Internet of things (IoTs) with an ultra-high density (e.g., ˜1M nodes/km2), ultra-low complexity (e.g., ˜10 s of bits/sec), ultra-low energy (e.g., ˜10+years of battery life), and deep coverage with the capability to reach challenging locations; (2) including mission-critical control with strong security to safeguard sensitive personal, financial, or classified information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., ˜99.9999% reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., ˜1 ms), and users with wide ranges of mobility or lack thereof; and (3) with enhanced mobile broadband including extreme high capacity (e.g., ˜10 Tbps/km2), extreme data rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rate, 100+Mbps user experienced rates), and deep awareness with advanced discovery and optimizations.

The 5G NR may be implemented to use optimized OFDM-based waveforms with scalable numerology and transmission time interval (TTI); having a common, flexible framework to efficiently multiplex services and features with a dynamic, low-latency time division duplex (TDD)/frequency division duplex (FDD) design; and with advanced wireless technologies, such as massive multiple input, multiple output (MIMO), robust millimeter wave (mmWave) transmissions, advanced channel coding, and device-centric mobility. Scalability of the numerology in 5G NR, with scaling of subcarrier spacing, may efficiently address operating diverse services across diverse spectrum and diverse deployments. For example, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments of less than 3 GHz FDD/TDD implementations, subcarrier spacing may occur with 15 kHz, for example over 1, 5, 10, 20 MHz, and the like bandwidth. For other various outdoor and small cell coverage deployments of TDD greater than 3 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur with 30 kHz over 80/100 MHz bandwidth, for example. For other various indoor wideband implementations, using a TDD over the unlicensed portion of the 5 GHz band, the subcarrier spacing may occur with 60 kHz over a 160 MHz bandwidth, for example. Finally, for various deployments transmitting with mmWave components at a TDD of 28 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur with 120 kHz over a 500 MHz bandwidth, for example. Other deployments of different subcarrier spacing over different bandwidths are also within the scope of the present disclosure.

The scalable numerology of 5G NR facilitates scalable TTI for diverse latency and quality of service (QoS) requirements. For example, shorter TTI may be used for low latency and high reliability, while longer TTI may be used for higher spectral efficiency. The efficient multiplexing of long and short TTIs may allow transmissions to start on symbol boundaries. 5G NR also contemplates a self-contained integrated subframe design with uplink/downlink scheduling information, data, and acknowledgement in the same subframe. The self-contained integrated subframe supports communications in unlicensed or contention-based shared spectrum, adaptive uplink/downlink that may be flexibly configured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink and downlink to meet the current traffic needs.

Various other aspects and features of the disclosure are further described below. It should be apparent that the teachings herein may be embodied in a wide variety of forms and that any specific structure, function, or both being disclosed herein is merely representative and not limiting. Based on the teachings herein one of an ordinary level of skill in the art should appreciate that an aspect disclosed herein may be implemented independently of any other aspects and that two or more of these aspects may be combined in various ways. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, such an apparatus may be implemented or such a method may be practiced using other structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or other than one or more of the aspects set forth herein. For example, a method may be implemented as part of a system, device, apparatus, and/or as instructions stored on a computer readable medium for execution on a processor or computer. Furthermore, an aspect may comprise at least one element of a claim.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 100 that supports MCS updates for group control messages in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 includes base stations 105, UEs 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, or a New Radio (NR) network. In some cases, wireless communications system 100 may support enhanced broadband communications, ultra-reliable (e.g., mission critical) communications, low latency communications, or communications with low-cost and low-complexity devices.

Base stations 105 may wirelessly communicate with UEs 115 via one or more base station antennas. Base stations 105 described herein may include or may be referred to by those skilled in the art as a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a next-generation Node B or giga-nodeB (either of which may be referred to as a gNB), a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or some other suitable terminology. Wireless communications system 100 may include base stations 105 of different types (e.g., macro or small cell base stations). The UEs 115 described herein may be able to communicate with various types of base stations 105 and network equipment including macro eNBs, small cell eNBs, gNBs, relay base stations, and the like. Each access network entity may communicate with UEs 115 through a number of other access network transmission entities, which may be referred to as a radio head, a smart radio head, a remote radio head, or a transmission/reception point (TRP). The functions performed by base stations 105 may be carried out via these network entities (e.g., TRPs). Accordingly, as described herein, the terms TRP and base station may be used interchangeably unless otherwise noted.

Each base station 105 may be associated with a particular geographic coverage area 110 in which communications with various UEs 115 is supported. Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110 via communication links 125, and communication links 125 between a base station 105 and a UE 115 may utilize one or more carriers. Communication links 125 shown in wireless communications system 100 may include uplink transmissions from a UE 115 to a base station 105, or downlink transmissions, from a base station 105 to a UE 115. Downlink transmissions may also be called forward link transmissions while uplink transmissions may also be called reverse link transmissions.

The geographic coverage area 110 for a base station 105 may be divided into sectors making up only a portion of the geographic coverage area 110, and each sector may be associated with a cell. For example, each base station 105 may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a small cell, a hot spot, or other types of cells, or various combinations thereof. In some examples, a base station 105 may be movable and therefore provide communication coverage for a moving geographic coverage area 110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may overlap, and overlapping geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may be supported by the same base station 105 or by different base stations 105. The wireless communications system 100 may include, for example, a heterogeneous LTE/LTE-A or NR network in which different types of base stations 105 provide coverage for various geographic coverage areas 110.

The term “cell” refers to a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station 105 (e.g., over a carrier), and may be associated with an identifier for distinguishing neighboring cells (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID)) operating via the same or a different carrier. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet-of-Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access for different types of devices. In some cases, the term “cell” may refer to a portion of a geographic coverage area 110 (e.g., a sector) over which the logical entity operates.

UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout the wireless communications system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary or mobile. A UE 115 may also be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable terminology, where the “device” may also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client. A UE 115 may also be a personal electronic device such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. In some examples, a UE 115 may also refer to a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or an MTC device, or the like, which may be implemented in various articles such as appliances, vehicles, meters, or the like. In some implementations, such as in factory automation settings and as used in certain examples herein, a UE 115 may also refer to a sensor/actuator (S/A) unit 115 that communicates with a programmable logic controller (PLC) that acts as a TRP 105 or base station 105.

Some UEs 115, such as MTC or IoT devices, may be low cost or low complexity devices, and may provide for automated communication between machines (e.g., via Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication). M2M communication or MTC may refer to data communication technologies that allow devices to communicate with one another or a base station 105 without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTC may include communications from devices that integrate sensors or meters to measure or capture information and relay that information to a central server or application program that can make use of the information or present the information to humans interacting with the program or application. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collect information or enable automated behavior of machines. Examples of applications for MTC devices include smart metering, inventory monitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, healthcare monitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological event monitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing, physical access control, and transaction-based business charging.

Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ operating modes that reduce power consumption, such as half-duplex communications (e.g., a mode that supports one-way communication via transmission or reception, but not transmission and reception simultaneously). In some examples half-duplex communications may be performed at a reduced peak rate. Other power conservation techniques for UEs 115 include entering a power saving “deep sleep” mode when not engaging in active communications, or operating over a limited bandwidth (e.g., according to narrowband communications). In some cases, UEs 115 may be designed to support critical functions (e.g., mission critical functions), and a wireless communications system 100 may be configured to provide ultra-reliable communications for these functions.

In some cases, a UE 115 may also be able to communicate directly with other UEs 115 (e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) or device-to-device (D2D) protocol). One or more of a group of UEs 115 utilizing D2D communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 105. Other UEs 115 in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 105, or be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station 105. In some cases, groups of UEs 115 communicating via D2D communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE 115 transmits to every other UE 115 in the group. In some cases, a base station 105 facilitates the scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In other cases, D2D communications are carried out between UEs 115 without the involvement of a base station 105.

Base stations 105 may communicate with the core network 130 and with one another. For example, base stations 105 may interface with the core network 130 through backhaul links 132 (e.g., via an S1 or other interface). Base stations 105 may communicate with one another over backhaul links 134 (e.g., via an X2 or other interface) either directly (e.g., directly between base stations 105) or indirectly (e.g., via core network 130). In some examples, base stations 105 or TRPs 105 may communicate with each other through backhaul links 134 to coordinate transmission and reception of signals with UEs 115 as part of a CoMP deployment. For example, a first TRP 105 may determine from UE 115 CSI reports that transmissions from a neighboring TRP 105 are negatively interfering with communications between the first TRP 105 and the UE 115. Accordingly, the first TRP 105 may inform the neighboring TRP 105 via backhaul links 134 of the interference or request that the neighboring TRP 105 mute transmissions on certain resources or transmit on different resources.

The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC), which may include at least one mobility management entity (MME), at least one serving gateway (S-GW), and at least one Packet Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW). The MME may manage non-access stratum (e.g., control plane) functions such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management for UEs 115 served by base stations 105 associated with the EPC. User IP packets may be transferred through the S-GW, which itself may be connected to the P-GW. The P-GW may provide IP address allocation as well as other functions. The P-GW may be connected to the network operators IP services. The operators IP services may include access to the Internet, Intranet(s), an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), or a Packet-Switched (PS) Streaming Service.

At least some of the network devices, such as a base station 105, may include subcomponents such as an access network entity, which may be an example of an access node controller (ANC). Each access network entity may communicate with UEs 115 through a number of other access network transmission entities, which may be referred to as a radio head, a smart radio head, or a transmission/reception point (TRP). In some configurations, various functions of each access network entity or base station 105 may be distributed across various network devices (e.g., radio heads and access network controllers) or consolidated into a single network device (e.g., a base station 105).

Wireless communications system 100 may operate using one or more frequency bands, typically in the range of 300 MHz to 300 GHz. Generally, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is known as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band, since the wavelengths range from approximately one decimeter to one meter in length. UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features. However, the waves may penetrate structures sufficiently for a macro cell to provide service to UEs 115 located indoors. Transmission of UHF waves may be associated with smaller antennas and shorter range (e.g., less than 100 km) compared to transmission using the smaller frequencies and longer waves of the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portion of the spectrum below 300 MHz.

Wireless communications system 100 may also operate in a super high frequency (SHF) region using frequency bands from 3 GHz to 30 GHz, also known as the centimeter band. The SHF region includes bands such as the 5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) bands, which may be used opportunistically by devices that can tolerate interference from other users.

Wireless communications system 100 may also operate in an extremely high frequency (EHF) region of the spectrum (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz), also known as the millimeter band. In some examples, wireless communications system 100 may support millimeter wave (mmW) communications between UEs 115 and base stations 105, and EHF antennas of the respective devices may be even smaller and more closely spaced than UHF antennas. In some cases, this may facilitate use of antenna arrays within a UE 115 (e.g., for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) operations such as spatial multiplexing, or for directional beamforming). However, the propagation of EHF transmissions may be subject to even greater atmospheric attenuation and shorter range than SHF or UHF transmissions. Techniques disclosed herein may be employed across transmissions that use one or more different frequency regions, and designated use of bands across these frequency regions may differ by country or regulating body.

In some cases, wireless communications system 100 may utilize both licensed and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. For example, wireless communications system 100 may employ LTE License Assisted Access (LTE-LAA) or LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology or NR technology in an unlicensed band such as the 5 GHz ISM band. When operating in unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands, wireless devices such as base stations 105 and UEs 115 may employ listen-before-talk (LBT) procedures to ensure a frequency channel is clear before transmitting data. In some cases, operations in unlicensed bands may be based on a CA configuration in conjunction with CCs operating in a licensed band. Operations in unlicensed spectrum may include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, peer-to-peer transmissions, or a combination of these. Duplexing in unlicensed spectrum may be based on frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination of both.

In some cases, the antennas of a base station 105 or UE 115 may be located within one or more antennas or antenna arrays, which may support MIMO operations such as spatial multiplexing, or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some cases, antennas or antenna arrays associated with a base station 105 may be located in diverse geographic locations. A base station 105 may have an antenna array with a number of rows and columns of antenna ports that the base station 105 may use to support beamforming of communications with a UE 115. Likewise, a UE 115 may have one or more antenna arrays that may support various MIMO or beamforming operations.

MIMO wireless systems use a transmission scheme between a transmitting device (e.g., a base station 105) and a receiving device (e.g., a UE 115), where both transmitting device and the receiving device are equipped with multiple antennas. MIMO communications may employ multipath signal propagation to increase the utilization of a radio frequency spectrum band by transmitting or receiving different signals via different spatial paths, which may be referred to as spatial multiplexing. The different signals may, for example, be transmitted by the transmitting device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Likewise, the different signals may be received by the receiving device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Each of the different signals may be referred to as a separate spatial stream, and the different antennas or different combinations of antennas at a given device (e.g., the orthogonal resource of the device associated with the spatial dimension) may be referred to as spatial layers.

Beamforming, which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signal processing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a base station 105 or a UE 115) to shape or steer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam or receive beam) along a direction between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming may be achieved by combining the signals communicated via antenna elements of an antenna array such that signals propagating at particular orientations with respect to an antenna array experience constructive interference while others experience destructive interference. The adjustment of signals communicated via the antenna elements may include a transmitting device or a receiving device applying certain phase offset, timing advance/delay, or amplitude adjustment to signals carried via each of the antenna elements associated with the device. The adjustments associated with each of the antenna elements may be defined by a beamforming weight set associated with a particular orientation (e.g., with respect to the antenna array of the transmitting device or receiving device, or with respect to some other orientation).

In one example, a base station 105 may use multiple use antennas or antenna arrays to conduct beamforming operations for directional communications with a UE 115. For instance, signals may be transmitted multiple times in different directions, which may include a signal being transmitted according to different beamforming weight sets associated with different directions of transmission. A receiving device (e.g., a UE 115, which may be an example of a mmW receiving device) may try multiple receive beams when receiving various signals from the base station 105, such as synchronization signals or other control signals. For example, a receiving device may try multiple receive directions by receiving via different antenna subarrays, by processing received signals according to different antenna subarrays, by receiving according to different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at a plurality of antenna elements of an antenna array, or by processing received signals according to different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at a plurality of antenna elements of an antenna array, any of which may be referred to as “listening” according to different receive beams or receive directions.

In some cases, wireless communications system 100 may be a packet-based network that operate according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, communications at the bearer or Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer may be IP-based. A Radio Link Control (RLC) layer may in some cases perform packet segmentation and reassembly to communicate over logical channels. A Medium Access Control (MAC) layer may perform priority handling and multiplexing of logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layer may also use hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) to provide retransmission at the MAC layer to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, the Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol layer may provide establishment, configuration, and maintenance of an RRC connection between a UE 115 and a base station 105 or core network 130 supporting radio bearers for user plane data. At the Physical (PHY) layer, transport channels may be mapped to physical channels.

In some cases, UEs 115 and base stations 105 may support retransmissions of data to increase the likelihood that data is received successfully. HARQ feedback is one technique of increasing the likelihood that data is received correctly over a communication link 125. HARQ may include a combination of error detection (e.g., using a cyclic redundancy check (CRC)), forward error correction (FEC), and retransmission (e.g., automatic repeat request (ARQ)). HARQ may improve throughput at the MAC layer in poor radio conditions (e.g., signal-to-noise conditions). In some cases, a wireless device may support same-slot HARQ feedback, where the device may provide HARQ feedback in a specific slot for data received in a previous symbol in the slot. In other cases, the device may provide HARQ feedback in a subsequent slot, or according to some other time interval.

According to various aspects of the present disclosure, a base station 105 may use SPS scheduling for a first transmission to a UE 115, but may use dynamic scheduling for retransmissions based on the HARQ feedback received from the UE 115. In some instances, a group resource allocation is transmitted to multiple UEs 115 based on the HARQ feedback received from the multiple UEs 115, such that the multiple UEs 115 may each receive the group resource allocation and determine its retransmission resource allocation from the group resource allocation, instead of receiving an individual resource allocation or grant. Further, a base station 105 may include additional information with the group resource allocation in the group control message, such as MCS updates for the retransmission.

Time intervals in LTE or NR may be expressed in multiples of a basic time unit, which may, for example, refer to a sampling period of Ts=1/30,720,000 seconds. Time intervals of a communications resource may be organized according to radio frames each having a duration of 10 milliseconds (Tf=307200*Ts). The radio frames may be identified by a system frame number (SFN) ranging from 0 to 1023. Each frame may include ten subframes numbered from 0 to 9, and each subframe may have a duration of 1 millisecond. A subframe may be further divided into two slots each having a duration of 0.5 milliseconds, and each slot may contain 6 or 7 modulation symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of the cyclic prefix prepended to each symbol period). Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period may contain 2048 sampling periods. In some cases a subframe may be the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communications system 100, and may be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI). In other cases, a smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communications system 100 may be shorter than a subframe or may be dynamically selected (e.g., in bursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs) or in selected component carriers using sTTIs).

In some wireless communications systems, a slot may further be divided into multiple mini-slots containing one or more symbols and in some instances, a symbol of a mini-slot or a mini-slot may be the smallest unit of scheduling. Each symbol may vary in duration depending on the subcarrier spacing or frequency band of operation, for example. Some wireless communications systems may implement slot aggregation in which multiple slots or mini-slots may be aggregated together for communication between a UE 115 and a base station 105.

A resource element may consist of one symbol period (e.g., a duration of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier (e.g., a 15 kHz frequency range). A resource block may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain (e.g., collectively forming a “carrier”) and, for a normal cyclic prefix in each orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, 7 consecutive OFDM symbol periods in the time domain (1 slot), or 84 total resource elements across the frequency and time domains. The number of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (the configuration of modulation symbols that may be applied during each symbol period). Thus, the more resource elements that a UE 115 receives and the higher the modulation scheme (e.g., the higher the number of bits that may be represented by a modulation symbol according to a given modulation scheme), the higher the data rate may be for the UE 115. In MIMO systems, a wireless communications resource may refer to a combination of a radio frequency spectrum band resource, a time resource, and a spatial resource (e.g., spatial layers), and the use of multiple spatial layers may further increase the data rate for communications with a UE 115.

The term “carrier” refers to a set of radio frequency spectrum resources having a defined organizational structure for supporting uplink or downlink communications over a communication link 125. For example, a carrier of a communication link 125 may include a portion of a radio frequency spectrum band that may also be referred to as a frequency channel. In some examples a carrier may be made up of multiple sub-carriers (e.g., waveform signals of multiple different frequencies). A carrier may be organized to include multiple physical channels, where each physical channel may carry user data, control information, or other signaling.

The organizational structure of the carriers may be different for different radio access technologies (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, NR, etc.). For example, communications over a carrier may be organized according to TTIs or slots, each of which may include user data as well as control information or signaling to support decoding the user data. A carrier may also include dedicated acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals or system information, etc.) and control signaling that coordinates operation for the carrier. In some examples (e.g., in a carrier aggregation configuration), a carrier may also have acquisition signaling or control signaling that coordinates operations for other carriers.

Physical channels may be multiplexed on a carrier according to various techniques. A physical control channel and a physical data channel may be multiplexed on a downlink carrier, for example, using time division multiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. In some examples, control information transmitted in a physical control channel may be distributed between different control regions in a cascaded manner (e.g., between a common control region or common search space and one or more UE-specific control regions or UE-specific search spaces).

A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of the radio frequency spectrum, and in some examples the carrier bandwidth may be referred to as a “system bandwidth” of the carrier or the wireless communications system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be one of a number of predetermined bandwidths for carriers of a particular radio access technology (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz). In some examples the system bandwidth may refer to a minimum bandwidth unit for scheduling communications between a base station 105 and a UE 115. In other examples a base station 105 or a UE 115 may also support communications over carriers having a smaller bandwidth than the system bandwidth. In such examples, the system bandwidth may be referred to as “wideband” bandwidth and the smaller bandwidth may be referred to as a “narrowband” bandwidth. In some examples of the wireless communications system 100, wideband communications may be performed according to a 20 MHz carrier bandwidth and narrowband communications may be performed according to a 1.4 MHz carrier bandwidth.

Devices of the wireless communications system 100 (e.g., base stations or UEs 115) may have a hardware configuration that supports communications over a particular carrier bandwidth, or may be configurable to support communications over one of a set of carrier bandwidths. For example, base stations 105 or UEs 115 may perform some communications according to a system bandwidth (e.g., wideband communications), and may perform some communications according to a smaller bandwidth (e.g., narrowband communications). In some examples, the wireless communications system 100 may include base stations 105 and/or UEs that can support simultaneous communications via carriers associated with more than one different bandwidth.

Wireless communications system 100 may support communication with a UE 115 on multiple cells or carriers, a feature which may be referred to as carrier aggregation (CA) or multi-carrier operation. A UE 115 may be configured with multiple downlink CCs and one or more uplink CCs according to a carrier aggregation configuration. Carrier aggregation may be used with both FDD and TDD component carriers.

In some cases, wireless communications system 100 may utilize enhanced component carriers (eCCs). An eCC may be characterized by one or more features including wider carrier or frequency channel bandwidth, shorter symbol duration, shorter TTI duration, or modified control channel configuration. In some cases, an eCC may be associated with a carrier aggregation configuration or a dual connectivity configuration (e.g., when multiple serving cells have a suboptimal or non-ideal backhaul link). An eCC may also be configured for use in unlicensed spectrum or shared spectrum (e.g., where more than one operator is allowed to use the spectrum). An eCC characterized by wide carrier bandwidth may include one or more segments that may be utilized by UEs 115 that are not capable of monitoring the whole carrier bandwidth or are otherwise configured to use a limited carrier bandwidth (e.g., to conserve power).

In some cases, an eCC may utilize a different symbol duration than other CCs, which may include use of a reduced symbol duration as compared with symbol durations of the other CCs. A shorter symbol duration may be associated with increased spacing between adjacent subcarriers. A device, such as a UE 115 or base station 105, utilizing eCCs may transmit wideband signals (e.g., according to frequency channel or carrier bandwidths of 20, 40, 60, 80 MHz, etc.) at reduced symbol durations (e.g., 16.67 microseconds). A TTI in eCC may consist of one or multiple symbol periods. In some cases, the TTI duration (that is, the number of symbol periods in a TTI) may be variable.

Wireless communications systems such as an NR system may use a combination of licensed, shared, and unlicensed spectrum bands, among others. The flexibility of eCC symbol duration and subcarrier spacing may allow for the use of eCC across multiple spectrums. In some examples, NR shared spectrum may increase spectrum utilization and spectral efficiency, specifically through dynamic vertical (e.g., across frequency) and horizontal (e.g., across time) sharing of resources.

As depicted in FIG. 1, a UE 115 may communicate over wireless communication links 125 with a particular serving TRP 105. In some instances, such as in factory automation environments, a large number of UEs 115 are served by TRPs 105, so a TRP 105 may schedule retransmission resources using a group resource allocation transmission instead of sending individual resource allocation transmissions to each UE 115, which may result in fewer overhead signaling messages. In some instances, however, the large number of UEs 115 may operate under a wide range of dynamic channel conditions, resulting in different MCS requirements among the large number of UEs 115 as well as from one transmission to the next. Accordingly, as described in further detail herein, the TRPs 105 may further include additional information in the group resource allocation transmission (e.g., in a group control message). In this way, a base station 105 can update UEs with MCS information to accommodate changing channel conditions as well as efficiently allocate resources among different UEs operating under different channel conditions. Other procedures are also described herein for MCS updates for group control messages.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example wireless communication system 200 in which factory units communicate using CoMP, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. As seen in FIG. 2, a UE 215 may be a S/A unit and within range of both base station 205 a and 205 b. base station 205 a may be associated with geographical coverage area 210 a, while base station 205 b may be associated with geographical coverage area 210 b. In the illustrated example, the UE 215 may be physically closer to base station 205 a but still within the coverage area of both base station 205 a and base station 205 b. By way of example only, the UE 215 may be associated with sensor/actuator (S/A) of an associated piece of equipment in the geographical coverage area 210 a, such as a zone within a factory automation setting. In some examples, the UE 215 may perform wireless communications with each other and/or with the base station 205 which may be an example of a programmable logic controller (PLC) in a factory automation setting. In some aspects, the wireless communications may be SPS based communications that support defined latency and/or reliability requirements. Thus, base station 205 may perform communications with one or more of UEs 215. In some aspects, the SPS communications may be between one or more of the UEs. For example, some of the UEs 215 may be configured as S/As that perform various function within the factory automation setting, and base station 205 may be configured as a PLC that oversees and/or manages aspects of one or more S/As. In one non-limiting example, a factory automation setting may include hundreds or even thousands of UEs within a zone 210 a. In some aspects, the UEs within the zone 210 a may be considered a set of UEs that base station 205 is performing SPS communications with.

In some aspects, base station 205 may configure the UE 215 and other UEs within zone 210 a for SPS communications. For example, base station 205 may use RRC signaling to provide an indication of the pre-configured SPS resources to be used for the SPS communications between one or more of the UEs and base station 215 and/or inter-communications between the UEs. Base station 205 may activate/deactivate the preconfigured SPS resources for one or more UEs for a particular subframe by including a trigger in the DCI of the subframe. For example, the base station 205 may transmit a DCI in a PDCCH control signal, and each UE may attempt to decode the PDCCH by unscrambling a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) using a SPS cell radio network temporary identifier (SPS C-RNTI). Broadly, wireless communication system 200 illustrates one example of an environment where SPS protocols are for URLLC communications, such as in factory automation settings.

In an example indoor factory environment, various objects may interrupt the path of the communication links between the UE 215 and base stations 205, while multiple base stations within the vicinity, including those not shown, may interfere with each other. Accordingly, the UE 215 may transmit HARQ feedback, such as an acknowledgement (ACK) or negative acknowledgement (NACK) to the base station 205 to indicate whether a particular scheduled transmission was accurately received. For example, the base station 205 may use SPS to schedule an initial transmission. If the UE 215 failed to correctly receive the initial transmission, it transmits a NACK response to the base station 205. If the UE 215 successfully received the initial transmission, it transmits an ACK response to the base station 205. The base station 205 may then dynamically schedule retransmissions using a resource allocation transmission in PDCCH if the UE 215 did not correctly receive the original transmission.

In some instances, the base station 205 may serve a large number of UEs 215. Accordingly, instead of scheduling retransmission resources for each of the UEs 215 separately, the base station 205 may send a group downlink control message to be decoded by the UEs 215 to determine their respective assigned resources for retransmissions. The UEs 215 in a group served by the base station 205 may receive the group downlink control message and use the information associated with the downlink resource configuration to identify which downlink resource configuration will be used for retransmission of the UE's respective SPS message. For example, each UE may use the information associated with the downlink resource configuration in combination with one or more rules to identify the resources assigned for the retransmission and associated downlink resource configuration. In some aspects, the downlink resource configuration may include some, all, or none of the downlink resource configuration that was used for transmission of the original SPS message. In some aspects, the group downlink control message may be transmitted in a group common PDCCH (GC-PDCCH), or some other similar group control signal.

One issue with transmission of a group control signal, however, is if the UEs receiving the group control signal are operating under a wide range of different channel conditions, especially in instances where the group control signal is intended for a large number of UEs. For example, based on channel feedback, a base station 105 may determine that one UE has different MCS requirements than another UE. Further, the MCS requirements for a retransmission may differ significantly from the MCS requirements of the initial SPS transmission. According to various aspects of the present disclosure, the base station 205 may include additional information in the group downlink control message to allow UEs requiring retransmission to determine allocated resources in accordance with their respective MCS requirements, as determined by feedback reports received from the UEs, such as channel state information (CSI) reports. The transmission of MCS updates in the group downlink control message may reduce overhead and improve operational efficiency for dynamic resource scheduling, such as for retransmission resource allocation. The base station 205 may then retransmit the respective SPS messages to the UEs and according to each UEs corresponding downlink resource configuration and MCS requirements.

Thus, aspects of the present disclosure provide for, instead of sending separate individual PDCCH to each UE (e.g., S/A), a group PDCCH is sent (e.g., the group downlink control message). In some examples, a single CRC may be attached to the group PDCCH (which may reduce the control overhead). In some aspects, even the group PDCCH payload itself may be significantly reduced as compared to separate PDCCHs for each UE. For instance, the group PDCCH may include a bitmap of which UEs sent ACKs and NACKs. This may be sufficient information for UEs to determine which resources are assigned if there is a predefined mapping from the UE position in the bitmap to resource allocation. Furthermore, base stations may send group resource allocation transmissions with sufficient information for allocating resources to satisfy MCS requirements of different UEs within a group. The group downlink control message, including MCS updates, may be transmitted to efficiently maximize resource usage while ensuring successful decoding of the retransmissions in accordance with each UE's individual MCS requirements.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a frame structure 300 that supports group common control channel and MCS updates for group control signal in wireless communications in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, frame structure 300 may implement aspects of wireless communication system 100 or 200. Frame structure 300 illustrates an example of a downlink frame configuration 305 and uplink frame configuration 310. The downlink frame configuration 305 generally includes two self-contained downlink frames. Each self-contained downlink frame may include a control portion 315 (e.g., PDCCH control signal), a downlink resource configuration 320, and a corresponding ACK/NACK resource 325. The control portion 315 may carry or otherwise provide an indication of a downlink SPS trigger for UEs within a set of UEs. The SPS trigger may activate the downlink resource configuration 320 for the respective UEs in the set of UEs (e.g., UE 1 through UE N). As will be discussed in more detail below, in some cases the downlink resource configuration 320 may allocate resources for UEs to receive retransmissions of prior SPS transmissions. Thus, UE 1 may have a downlink resource configuration that includes time/frequency resources for transmission of a downlink SPS message. UE 1 may respond to the SPS message by transmitting an ACK message or a NACK message, depending on whether UE 1 receives and/or decodes the SPS message, using the corresponding ACK/NACK resource 325. Other UEs may be assigned different time/frequency resources. Generally, the same procedure is repeated for the second self-contained downlink frame (e.g. slot 2), although some differences may include the use of a group common control message identifying resources to be used for retransmission of the SPS messages to UEs that transmitted NACK messages, as described below.

Uplink frame configuration 310 in this example includes two self-contained uplink frames. Each self-contained uplink frame may include a control portion 330 (e.g., PDCCH control signal), an uplink resource configuration 335 in which different UEs may be allocated different resources, and an uplink control block (ULCB) 340. Generally, the control portion 330 may carry or otherwise provided an indication of an uplink SPS trigger for UEs within a set of UEs. The uplink SPS trigger may activate the uplink resource configuration 335 for the respective UEs in the set of UEs (e.g., UE 1 through UE N). Thus, UE 1 may have an uplink resource configuration that includes time/frequency resources used for transmission of an uplink SPS message. UE 1 may receive a response to the uplink SPS message via an ACK message or a NACK message, depending on whether the base station receives and/or decodes the uplink SPS message, using the control portion 330 in the next self-contained uplink frame. ULCB 340 may provide various uplink control signals, parameters, etc., and, in some examples, may include one or more guard periods to allow for transmission from uplink-to-downlink at one or more of the wireless devices. Generally, the same procedure is repeated for the second self-contained downlink frame (e.g. slot 2).

In some examples, one or more of the uplink SPS messages and/or downlink SPS messages may not be received and/or decoded by the respective receiving device. Accordingly, frame structure 300 may utilize aspects of the described techniques to provide a group downlink control message to convey an indication of retransmission resources. In a downlink example, the control portion 315 may carry a group downlink control message that includes information associated with a downlink resource configuration 320 for retransmission of respective SPS messages to a subset of UEs. For example, during the first self-contained downlink frame the SPS messages transmitted during slot 1 may be received by some UEs, but not by all of the UEs. Accordingly, those UEs may respond by transmitting a NACK message and the corresponding ACK/NACK resource 325-a to the base station. The UEs transmitting the NACK messages may form a subset of UEs. The base station may respond by transmitting a group downlink control message and the control portion 315-b of the second self-contained downlink frame. In some instances, the base station may further include sufficient information in the group downlink control message to determine resource allocation in accordance with the MCS requirements of the UEs requiring retransmission, which may be based on channel conditions of the UEs. The group downlink control message may include information associated with downlink resource configuration 320-b for retransmission of the respective SPS messages to the subset of UEs. The UEs in the subset of UEs may identify their respective downlink resource configuration 320-b based on the information included in the group downlink control message, e.g., access to a lookup table or other reconfiguration rule that ties the information included in the group downlink control message with the corresponding downlink resource configuration 320-b. In some cases, a retransmission may be transmitted to a UE on certain resources, and the downlink control message may provide information that may be used to determine the downlink resource configuration 320-b for each UE. Accordingly, the base station may retransmit the SPS messages to each UE in the subset of UEs using the downlink resource configuration 320-b, which may include retransmitting one or more SPS messages via different resources than used in downlink resource configuration 320-a.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of retransmission resources 400 that supports group common control channel and MCS updates for group control signal in wireless communications in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, retransmission resources 400 may be implemented by aspects of wireless communication system 100 or 200.

In this example, retransmission resources 400 have an ACK/NACK bitmap that may be indicated in a group downlink control message. For example, a base station may transmit SPS messages to (or receive SPS messages from) a set of UEs using respective resources corresponding to each UE. In a downlink situation, the base station may receive individual ACK messages or NACK messages from the UEs in the set of UEs responsive to the SPS messages. In an uplink situation, the base station may provide an indication of ACK/NACK to the set of UEs. An ACK message provides an indication that a UE (in the downlink scenario) or the base station (in an uplink scenario) received and successfully decoded its SPS message. Correspondingly, a NACK message provides an indication that the SPS message was not received and/or was not able to be successfully decoded. The base station may respond by transmitting a group downlink control message to the UEs in the set of UEs. In one example, the group downlink control message may include information associated with downlink resource configuration for retransmission of the respective SPS messages. For example, the base station may transmit the ACK/NACK bitmap of retransmission resource 400 that provides the indication of the information associated with the downlink resource configurations.

In some aspects, the ACK/NACK bitmap includes a plurality of bits 405, where each bit 405 corresponds to a particular UE in the set of UEs. Thus, the first bit may correspond to a first UE having an index of 1, the second bit may correspond to UE 2, and so forth. Generally, the presence or absence of a bit, or whether a bit is set or not set (e.g., 1 or 0 respectively), for the respective UE may be based on whether the base station received an ACK message or a NACK message from that UE (in the downlink scenario) or of whether the base station was able to receive and decode the SPS messages received from UEs (in an uplink scenario). Thus, in the illustrated example, ACK/NACK bitmap 405 indicates that the base station received ACK messages from UEs 1, 3, 4, 6-10 and received NACK messages from UEs 2 and 4 (in a downlink scenario) or that the base station is providing an ACK indication to UEs 1, 3, 4, 6-10 and providing a NACK indication to UEs 2 and 4 (in an uplink scenario).

In some aspects, the base station and UEs in the set of UEs may be configured with one or more sets of rules to be applied to the information included in the group downlink control message (e.g., to the ACK/NACK bitmap) in determining the downlink resource configuration to be used for retransmission of the SPS messages. Generally, the rules may provide an indication of how available resources (including resources that corresponded to SPS messages for which ACK messages were received) may be divided among the UEs in the subset of UEs, e.g., evenly divided, based on the resource block count for each UE in the subset of UEs, etc. In some examples, available resources are divided evenly among UEs that require retransmissions. In the illustrated example, if UE 2 and UE 5 are the only UEs requiring retransmission, a predefined rule may define even distribution of resources, so an available 10 resource units (e.g., resource blocks) are divided evenly between UE 2 and UE 5. Further, a rule may define which specific resource units will be allocated respectively to UE 2 and UE 5. In one example, UE 2 and UE 5 may be allocated whichever resource unit they were allocated for the initial SPS transmission, while any additional resources are allocated sequentially based on the UE index. As seen in FIG. 4, UE 2 would be allocated the second resource block based on its UE index of 2, and UE 5 would be allocated the fifth resource block based on its UE index of 5. The additional resource blocks are then allocated sequentially, first to UE 2 and then to UE 5. In the illustrated example, UE 2 would then be allocated resources 1-4, and 6, while UE 5 would be allocated resources 5 and 7-10.

Accordingly, the group downlink control message may include information on how resources are allocated for retransmissions. In one example, this may include a set of available downlink resource configurations to be applied to the information included in the group downlink control message. In some aspects, this may include one or more preconfigured tables that can be used with the information included in the group downlink control message to determine the downlink resource configuration. In some examples, the group control message may include additional information as needed for the UE to determine its resources, such as information regarding remaining resources if resources are not evenly divided among UEs within a group.

In some instances, the UEs receiving a group downlink control message may have different characteristics. In particular, the UEs may operate under different channel conditions, such as different pathloss or interference conditions, and may require different levels of coverage or MCS. Further, changing channel conditions may cause UEs to have different MCS requirements at different times. Accordingly, a base station may include sufficient information in the group downlink control message to allow the UEs to determine updates to MCS. According to various aspects of the present disclosure, the base station may include information for UEs to identify which UEs among a group of UEs require retransmission as well as which resources are assigned to those UEs based on their MCS requirements.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of retransmission resources 500 that supports group common control channel and MCS updates for group control signal in wireless communications in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, retransmission resources 500 may be implemented by aspects of wireless communication system 100 or 200.

As seen in FIG. 5, a base station may send a group downlink control message for a group of UEs served by the base station. In the illustrated example, the group comprises ten UEs which may be indexed from 1-10. In some instances, the base station may schedule an initial SPS transmission (not shown) for the group of UEs. Some of the UEs may correctly receive and decode the SPS transmission, while other UEs may not. The UEs send ACK/NACK feedback to the base station to indicate whether the initial SPS transmission was correctly received. FIG. 5 depicts, in the form of an ACK/NACK bitmap 505, a logical representation of the feedback received at the base station for the ten UEs, with UEs 2 and 5 indicating a NACK (SPS transmission was not correctly received) and remaining UEs indicating an ACK (SPS transmission was correctly received).

Upon receiving the feedback reports from the UEs, the base station will attempt to reschedule transmissions for UEs that did not correctly receive the initial SPS transmissions. The retransmissions may be scheduled dynamically in a group downlink control message 510 such as in a PDCCH, as opposed to via SPS scheduling. The base station, however, may take into account varying and dynamic MCS requirements of the UEs that require retransmission. For example, the UEs may also send reports, such as channel state information (CSI) reports, to the base station indicating respective channel conditions. In some instances, UEs with poorer channel conditions may have greater MCS requirements, resulting in needing more resources for retransmissions.

In the illustrated example, UE 2 may have greater MCS requirements than UE 5, based on their respective CSI reports. Accordingly, the base station may schedule more resources for UE 2 for a retransmission than for UE 5 in order to meet their respective MCS requirements. In the present example, the base station may schedule an additional five resource blocks for UE 2 and an additional three resource blocks for UE 5 for their retransmissions. The base station may indicate the MCS update as an MCS delta along with transmission of the ACK/NACK bitmap 505. As seen in FIG. 5, the base station may include both the ACK/NACK bitmap 505 and the additional information, such as MCS delta, in the group downlink control message 510.

In some instances, the base station may also rely on mapping rules to allow the UEs to determine which resources are allocated for retransmission. The mapping rules may, in some cases, be defined in a wireless communication standard. Alternatively or in addition, the mapping rules may be preconfigured between the base station and the UEs, such as through radio resource control (RRC) configuration or other higher layer signaling. Accordingly, the base station may only include sufficient information in the group downlink control message 510, such as the number of additional resource blocks per UE requiring retransmission, for the UEs to determine allocated resources from the predefined mapping rules. For example, the predefined mapping rules may indicate that the position of each MCS delta in the group downlink control message 510 corresponds to the position of the UE, based on UE index, among the UEs requiring retransmission. In the present example, the MCS delta indicating five additional resource blocks is the first MCS delta provided in the group downlink control message 510, so the UEs may determine that the UE with the lowest index among the UEs requiring retransmission, i.e., UE 2, is associated with the first MCS delta of five additional resource blocks. Similarly, the second MCS delta of three additional resource blocks provided in the group downlink control message 510 corresponds to the second UE requiring retransmission, i.e., UE 5.

Further, the predefined mapping rules may also map each UE requiring retransmission to at least the same resource block scheduled for the initial SPS transmission for the same UE. In some instances, the initial SPS transmission may be scheduled on resources in a consecutive manner based on UE index. Accordingly, UE 2 and UE 5 are scheduled on resource blocks 2 and 5, respectively, and their retransmissions are also scheduled on resource blocks 2 and 5 based on the mapping. The predefined mapping rules may also map the additional resource blocks for each UE in a consecutive manner. As a result, since UE 2 receives an additional five resource blocks based on the MCS update included in the group downlink control message 510, the UE 2 may determine that, in addition to resource block 2, it is also allocated resource blocks 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7 based on the consecutive manner of resource allocation for retransmission. Similarly, UE 5 may determine that, in addition to resource block 5, it is also allocated resource blocks 8-10 for its additional three resource blocks based on the MCS update included in the group downlink control message 510.

The above illustration is one of various possible examples of additional information in a group downlink control message 510 that are within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the base station may use other forms of indicating sufficient information for MCS updates, such as explicitly indicating a UE index of the UE for which a particular MCS delta is assigned, followed or preceded by the respective MCS delta. Further, other forms of mapping rules may be defined to allow the UE to determine its allocated resources for retransmissions. For example, the mapping rules may map UEs to their respective retransmission resources in a strictly sequential manner, instead of being allocated at least the same resource blocks on which they received the initial SPS transmission as described in the example above.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart illustrating a process 600 performed by a user equipment (UE) for MCS updates for group downlink control message in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of process 600 may be implemented by a UE or its components, as described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 8. For example, the operations of process 600 may be performed by the processor 880, either alone or in combination with other components, as described herein. In some examples, the UE 115 may execute a set of codes to control the functional elements of the device to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 115 may perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

At 605, the UE 115 receives an indicator of retransmission scheduling for a plurality of UEs. The indicator of resource allocation may comprise a group downlink control message that provides sufficient information for the UE 115 to determine which resources are allocated for reception of an upcoming transmission, such as a retransmission of a prior missed transmission. In some instances, the indicator of resource allocation includes a bitmap indicating which UEs in the plurality of UEs reported a negative acknowledgement or a positive acknowledgement for a prior transmission, or a group Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) for allocating resources. In some instances, the indicator of resource allocation includes a bitmap indicating which UEs in the particular group reported a negative acknowledgement or a positive acknowledgement for a prior transmission, and additionally or alternatively, sufficient information for determining resource allocation based on an MCS update in the group downlink control message. In some instances, the indicator of retransmission scheduling is received on a group control channel.

At 610, the UE 115 determines, based on a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) update in the indicator, resources for receiving a retransmission. In some instances, the MCS update includes, for at least one UE that reported a negative acknowledgement for a prior transmission, a MCS delta with respect to a MCS of a prior transmission. In certain instances, the UE 115 determines the resources for receiving the retransmission based on the MCS delta and a position of the UE 115 in a sequential ordering of the plurality of UEs. In certain instances, the UE 115 determines the resources for receiving the retransmission based on the MCS delta and a UE index included in the indicator. In some instances, the determining the resources comprises identifying resource blocks for receiving the retransmission based on a position of the UE in a sequential ordering of the plurality of UEs. In some instances, the identifying the resource blocks further comprises identifying at least a particular resource block in which the UE received a prior transmission. At 615, the UE 115 receives the retransmission on the determined resources.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart illustrating a process 700 performed by a base station for MCS updates for group downlink control message in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of process 700 may be implemented by a base station or its components, as described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 8. For example, the operations of process 700 may be performed by the processor 840, either alone or in combination with other components, as described herein. In some examples, the base station 105 may execute a set of codes to control the functional elements of the device to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the base station 105 may perform aspects of the functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

At 705, the base station 105 receives a negative acknowledgement report from at least one UE of a plurality of user equipments (UEs). At 710, the base station 105 determines a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) update for the at least one UE. In some instances, the determining the MCS update for the at least one UE is based on channel state feedback received from the at least one UE. At 715, the base station 105 generates an indicator of retransmission scheduling for the plurality of UEs, the indicator including the MCS update for the at least one UE. In some instances, the indicator includes a bitmap indicating which of the plurality of UEs reported a negative acknowledgement or a positive acknowledgement of a prior transmission. In some instances, the prior transmission is scheduled based on semi-persistent scheduling. In some instances, the MCS update includes a MCS delta with respect to a MCS of a prior transmission to the at least one UE. In some instances, the MCS update further includes a UE index of the at least one UE. In some instances, the base station 105 assigns resources for a retransmission to the at least one UE based at least in part on a position of the at least one UE in a sequential ordering of the plurality of UEs. In some instances, the base station 105 assigns, for the retransmission, at least a particular resource block on which a prior transmission was transmitted to the at least one UE. At 720, the base station 105 transmits the indicator. In some instances, the indicator is transmitted on a group control channel for the plurality of UEs.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram 800 of a design of a base station/eNB 105 and a UE 115, which may be one of the base stations/eNBs and one of the UEs in FIG. 1. At the eNB 105, a transmit processor 820 may receive data from a data source 812 and control information from a controller/processor 840. The control information may be for various control channels such as the PBCH, PCFICH, PHICH, PDCCH, EPDCCH, MPDCCH etc. The data may be for the PDSCH, etc. The transmit processor 820 may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmit processor 820 may also generate reference symbols, e.g., for the PSS, SSS, and cell-specific reference signal. A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 830 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide output symbol streams to the modulators (MODs) 832 a through 832 t. Each modulator 832 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 832 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. Downlink signals from modulators 832 a through 832 t may be transmitted via the antennas 834 a through 834 t, respectively. The downlink signals may include references signals such as CSI-RS or synchronization signals, which may be used by the UE 115 to measure channel conditions for reporting to the base station 105. The base station 105 may then use the reporting feedback to determine whether the UE 115 requires MCS updates for resource allocation, as described above with reference to FIG. 5.

At the UE 115, the antennas 852 a through 852 r may receive the downlink signals from the eNB 105 and may provide received signals to the demodulators (DEMODs) 854 a through 854 r, respectively. Each demodulator 854 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 854 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 856 may obtain received symbols from all the demodulators 854 a through 854 r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive processor 858 may process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE 115 to a data sink 860, and provide decoded control information to a controller/processor 880.

On the uplink, at the UE 115, a transmit processor 864 may receive and process data (e.g., for the PUSCH) from a data source 862 and control information (e.g., for the PUCCH) from the controller/processor 880. The transmit processor 864 may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal. The symbols from the transmit processor 864 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 866 if applicable, further processed by the modulators 854 a through 854 r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the eNB 105. The transmissions to the eNB 105 may include channel measurement reports such as CSI reports, for example. At the eNB 105, the uplink signals from the UE 115 may be received by the antennas 834, processed by the demodulators 832, detected by a MIMO detector 836 if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor 838 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by the UE 115. The processor 838 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 839 and the decoded control information to the controller/processor 840.

The controllers/processors 840 and 880 may direct the operation at the eNB 105 and the UE 115, respectively. The controller/processor 840 and/or other processors and modules at the eNB 105 may perform or direct the execution of the functional blocks illustrated in FIG. 7, and/or other various processes for the techniques described herein. The controllers/processor 880 and/or other processors and modules at the UE 115 may also perform or direct the execution of the functional blocks illustrated in FIG. 6, and/or other processes for the techniques described herein. The memories 842 and 882 may store data and program codes for the eNB 105 and the UE 115, respectively. For example, memory 842 may store instructions that, when performed by the processor 840 or other processors depicted in FIG. 8, cause the base station 105 to perform operations described with respect to FIG. 7. Similarly, memory 882 may store instructions that, when performed by processor 880 or other processors depicted in FIG. 8 cause the UE 115 to perform operations described with respect to FIG. 6. A scheduler 844 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.

While blocks in FIG. 8 are illustrated as distinct components, the functions described above with respect to the blocks may be implemented in a single hardware, software, firmware, or combination component or in various combinations of components. For example, the functions described with respect to the transmit processor 820, the receive processor 838, or the TX MIMO processor 830 may be performed by or under the control of processor 840.

It should be noted that the methods described above describe possible implementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible. Further, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.

Techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communications systems such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), and other systems. A CDMA system may implement a radio technology such as CDMA2000, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), etc. CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. IS-2000 Releases may be commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1×, 1×, etc. IS-856 (TIA-856) is commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1×EV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. A TDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).

An OFDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE and LTE-A are releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, NR, and GSM are described in documents from the organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). The techniques described herein may be used for the systems and radio technologies mentioned above as well as other systems and radio technologies. While aspects of an LTE or an NR system may be described for purposes of example, and LTE or NR terminology may be used in much of the description, the techniques described herein are applicable beyond LTE or NR applications.

A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs 115 with service subscriptions with the network provider. A small cell may be associated with a lower-powered base station 105, as compared with a macro cell, and a small cell may operate in the same or different (e.g., licensed, unlicensed, etc.) frequency bands as macro cells. Small cells may include pico cells, femto cells, and micro cells according to various examples. A pico cell, for example, may cover a small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs 115 with service subscriptions with the network provider. A femto cell may also cover a small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may provide restricted access by UEs 115 having an association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs 115 in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs 115 for users in the home, and the like). An eNB for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro eNB. An eNB for a small cell may be referred to as a small cell eNB, a pico eNB, a femto eNB, or a home eNB. An eNB may support one or multiple (e.g., two, three, four, and the like) cells, and may also support communications using one or multiple component carriers.

The wireless communications system 100 or systems described herein may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations 105 may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations 105 may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the base stations 105 may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations 105 may not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used for either synchronous or asynchronous operations.

Information and signals described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and modules described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, functions described above can be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.

Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media may comprise random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transitory medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or “one or more of”) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Also, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an exemplary step that is described as “based on condition A” may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manner as the phrase “based at least in part on.”

In the appended figures, similar components or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label, or other subsequent reference label.

The description set forth herein, in connection with the appended drawings, describes example configurations and does not represent all the examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of the claims. The term “exemplary” used herein means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration,” and not “preferred” or “advantageous over other examples.” The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques. These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.

The description herein is provided to enable a person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein, but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, the method comprising: receiving an indicator of retransmission scheduling for a plurality of UEs; determining, based on a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) update in the indicator, resources for receiving a retransmission, wherein the determining the resources includes identifying at least a particular resource block in which the UE received a prior transmission and identifying, based on the particular resource block in which the UE received the prior transmission, consecutive additional resource blocks associated with the MCS update for receiving the retransmission; and receiving the retransmission on the determined resources.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicator includes a bitmap indicating which of the plurality of UEs reported a negative acknowledgement or a positive acknowledgement for a respective prior transmission.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the MCS update includes, for at least one UE that reported a negative acknowledgement for a respective prior transmission, a MCS delta with respect to a MCS of the respective prior transmission.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising determining the resources for receiving the retransmission based on the MCS delta and a position of the UE in a sequential ordering of the plurality of UEs.
 5. The method of claim 3, further comprising determining the resources for receiving the retransmission based on the MCS delta and a UE index included in the indicator.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the resources comprises identifying resource blocks for receiving the retransmission based on a position of the UE in a sequential ordering of the plurality of UEs.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the indicator of retransmission scheduling is received on a group control channel.
 8. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising: a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and operable, when executed by the processor, to cause the apparatus to: receive an indicator of retransmission scheduling for a plurality of UEs; determine, based on a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) update in the indicator, resources for receiving a retransmission, wherein the determining the resources includes identifying at least a particular resource block in which the UE received a prior transmission and identifying, based on the particular resource block in which the UE received the prior transmission, consecutive additional resource blocks associated with the MCS update for receiving the retransmission; and receive the retransmission on the determined resources.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the indicator includes a bitmap indicating which of the plurality of UEs reported a negative acknowledgement or a positive acknowledgement for a respective prior transmission.
 10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the MCS update includes, for at least one UE that reported a negative acknowledgement for a respective prior transmission, a MCS delta with respect to a MCS of the respective prior transmission.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, the instructions further operable to cause the apparatus to determine the resources for receiving the retransmission based on the MCS delta and a position of the UE in a sequential ordering of the plurality of UEs.
 12. The apparatus of claim 10, the instructions further operable to cause the apparatus to determine the resources for receiving the retransmission based on the MCS delta and a UE index included in the indicator.
 13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the determining the resources comprises identifying resource blocks for receiving the retransmission based on a position of the UE in a sequential ordering of the plurality of UEs.
 14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the indicator of retransmission scheduling is received on a group control channel.
 15. A method for wireless communication, comprising: receiving a negative acknowledgement report from at least one UE of a plurality of user equipments (UEs); determining a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) update for the at least one UE; assigning, for a retransmission, at least a particular resource block on which a prior transmission was transmitted to the at least one UE; assigning, for the retransmission, consecutive additional resource blocks associated with the MCS update based on particular resource block on which the prior transmission was transmitted to the at least one UE; generating an indicator of retransmission scheduling for the plurality of UEs, the indicator including the MCS update and assigned resource blocks for the at least one UE; and transmitting the indicator.
 16. The method of claim 15, the determining the MCS update for the at least one UE is based on channel state feedback received from the at least one UE.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the indicator is transmitted on a group control channel for the plurality of UEs.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein the indicator includes a bitmap indicating which of the plurality of UEs reported a negative acknowledgement or a positive acknowledgement of a respective prior transmission.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the respective prior transmission is scheduled based on semi-persistent scheduling.
 20. The method of claim 15, wherein the MCS update includes a MCS delta with respect to a MCS of the prior transmission to the at least one UE.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the MCS update further includes a UE index of the at least one UE.
 22. The method of claim 15, further comprising assigning resources for the retransmission to the at least one UE based at least in part on a position of the at least one UE in a sequential ordering of the plurality of UEs.
 23. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising: a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and operable, when executed by the processor, to cause the apparatus to: receive a negative acknowledgement report from at least one UE of a plurality of user equipments (UEs); determine a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) update for the at least one UE; assign, for a retransmission, at least a particular resource block on which a prior transmission was transmitted to the at least one UE; assign, for the retransmission, consecutive additional resource blocks associated with the MCS update based on particular resource block on which the prior transmission was transmitted to the at least one UE; generate an indicator of retransmission scheduling for the plurality of UEs, the indicator including the MCS update for the at least one UE; and transmit the indicator.
 24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the indicator includes a bitmap indicating which of the plurality of UEs reported a negative acknowledgement or a positive acknowledgement of a respective prior transmission.
 25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the MCS update includes a MCS delta with respect to a MCS of the prior transmission to the at least one UE.
 26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the MCS update further includes a UE index of the at least one UE.
 27. The apparatus of claim 23, the instructions further operable to cause the apparatus to assign resources for the retransmission to the at least one UE based at least in part on a position of the at least one UE in a sequential ordering of the plurality of UEs. 